One diner to go: The landmark Melrose is being demolished

Demolition is underway on the beloved Melrose Diner, a fixture for generations of South Philadelphians.

A new building, with apartments above and a ground-floor Melrose, is planned for the site, at 15th Street, Snyder Avenue, and West Passyunk Avenue.

Heavy equipment began clawing at the diner early Wednesday morning, catching the eye of passersby. About 8 a.m., Johnny Zito, a neighbor and co-owner of the nearby South Fellini boutique, uploaded footage of the teardown to Instagram while walking his dog.

“I’m heartbroken,” Zito, 40, told The Inquirer. He remembers his first visit fondly: He got pie with his aunt after his first-ever trolley ride. The diner would eventually become the meeting place for Zito and his business partner Tony Trov when they were teenagers: “We called it the kitchen.”

Owner Michael Petrogiannis bought the Melrose in 2007 from Richard Kubach Jr., whose father founded the business in 1935 and moved it to its current location in 1956. Contending that the diner business was not profitable, Petrogiannis filed demolition permits for both the Melrose and his nearby Broad Street Diner in 2022, around the time of a kitchen fire that had since shuttered the Melrose.

Petrogiannis decided to replace the Melrose with a six-story apartment building and a new Melrose. Petrogiannis told The Inquirer that the new diner would have more tables and less counter seating.

He also promised not to close the Broad Street Diner before the new Melrose opens.

» READ MORE: Melrose Diner to be demolished — but revived in new 94-unit apartment building

Petrogiannis was not available for comment Wednesday. His daughter Maria Petrogiannis confirmed that plans for the site still include apartments and a smaller Melrose Diner. She did not have a projected opening date.

“This is going to be what’s best, not only for us, but for the community and neighborhood as well,” she said.

About 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, a small crowd had gathered across the street to mourn the diner as a claw truck tore apart the exterior. Passersby paused to film the demolition.

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“It’s an icon. I never thought it would disappear,” said Diane Torres, 70, who has lived in the orbit of the diner her entire life, and encouraged her son Ben, now 40, to work there when he was 15.

“It was where the boys used to go” when she was in high school, Torres said. “I used to cut class, go there, and then bump into my mom.”

Jason Pirrung, 36, who watched the demolition while wearing a faded Phillies T-shirt, worries about where people in the neighborhood will go to the pass the time, especially as third places in Philadelphia continue to disappear alongside the city’s 24-hour diners.

» READ MORE: A list of Philly's diners, from the 24/7 operations to the lunch spots

“It’s a gathering spot for all walks of life,” Pirrung, whose go-to Melrose order was a cheese omelet for himself and creamed chipped beef for his wife. “We don’t have many of those in this neighborhood.”

The Melrose also has significance beyond South Philly: The Smithsonian prepared a history of the diner, and popular Lansdale-born pop punk band the Wonder Years released a song named after the diner in 2010.

Zito, who once spent an hour documenting the legacy of the Melrose for his “Legends of Philadelphia” podcast, is pessimistic about the diner’s future.

“I hope they bring it back for the modern era,” Zito said. “But those old timers — who have been going there every Sunday after church — their routine has been disrupted. I don’t know if they’ll return.”